Perfect Moment
by TheOracle18
Summary: Set during HBP - "You know what would make this moment perfect? Ice cream!" - Ginny gets a craving for ice cream and Harry delivers. H/G fluff - ONE SHOT


D_isclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no copyright infringement intended._

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Ginny gave a gusty sigh of relief as she was finally released from her double DADA class. Honestly, whoever thought giving Snape the last class of the week obviously hated her since he seemed to take some kind of vindictive pleasure from keeping them later and later after the bell every Friday. Now free of classes for the entire weekend, Ginny felt a weight lift from her shoulders, that is until she remembered the mountain of essays and extra reading all the teachers had set as homework. With their OWLs fast approaching the teachers seemed determined to bury the fifth years under such a heavy workload that their heads spun with spell definitions, wand movements and potion recipes.

However, Ginny decided that homework could at least be forgotten until after dinner. After a week of keeping her nose to the grindstone she felt she deserved a couple of soothing hours spent in the company of her boyfriend, Harry Potter. Harry Potter - her boyfriend! Ginny still had to pinch herself sometimes to convince herself that it was real. Harry really had kissed her in front of the entire House after they'd won the Quidditch Cup a few weeks ago, he'd really asked her to be his girlfriend and she really had been deliriously happy these past weeks in every moment they were together.

It comforted her that she'd never seen Harry as happy as he was now either; his cheeky grin always hovered around his lips whenever they talked and she often caught him gazing at her from across the table as they studied together. He'd smile bashfully and blush even more than she did. She found that she simply loved spending time with him, no matter what they were doing, whether it was studying, flying, kissing or simply talking. She loved that she could feel his heart beating faster whenever they kissed, she loved that he was kind to her friends and understanding whenever she wanted to spend time with them and she loved that he was there for her whenever she needed him. Though certainly not the perfect boyfriend, she thought he'd been doing a damn good job.

She chatted happily with her friends as they made their way down to the Great Hall for dinner. They joked and laughed and complained about classes and homework, looking forward to a good meal and some relaxation time before getting stuck into their homework.

"Harry!" she called as she entered the Great Hall and spotted him sitting at the Gryffindor table across from Ron and Hermione with an empty seat beside him, his adorably messy hair was unmistakable. His smile was bright as their eyes met and she felt her heart skip a beat. She murmured quickly to her friends that she would catch up with them later and, ignoring the teasing comments that were called after her, she hurried towards her boyfriend, eager to be with him again.

"Ginny!" he greeted her, his green eyes sparkling behind his glasses as she claimed the seat next to him, "How was Defence, Snape wasn't too hard on you was he?"

She felt an intense urge to kiss him having not seen him since breakfast, they had somehow missed each other at lunch, but with her hypocritical idiot of a brother right across the table she felt that discretion might be the better part of valour, she had no desire to restart an argument they'd been having ever since she and Harry had started dating when she could easily avoid it.

"Well, no worse than usual, if that's what you mean, he did set us an awful essay though, it's probably going to take me all weekend," Ginny pouted.

"We can go to the library after dinner and I'll try and help, McGonagall's set us a pretty horrible one as well so I should probably get started on that."

Ginny huffed, "It's like they have no respect for our social lives, are we meant to spend our lives cooped up in the library?"

"We could take out books down to the lake, it's still nice out there," he suggested.

"That sounds perfect, I've been stuck inside all day, I'm craving some fresh air," Ginny said in agreement.

"I know how you feel," he sighed, and she smiled in understanding, knowing how much he enjoyed being outside, having been cooped up so much during his childhood. The Hogwarts classrooms became unbearably stuffy whenever the temperature rose, as it did in the summer months, and looking at the blue skies and fluffy white clouds which painted the great Hall ceiling, today was the perfect day to escape outside to the extensive grounds.

They enjoyed their dinner, chatted with Ron and Hermione and surreptitiously held hands under the table once they had finished eating. To Ron's continued bewilderment, Hermione was eager to get to the library and rose to leave soon after she'd finished eating, dragging Ron along with her who was once again reluctant to leave Harry and Ginny alone together. Her nagging soon prevailed though and he left with minimum fuss, though he cast suspicious glances behind him all the way to the door.

Laughing at her brother's antics, Ginny stood as well, pulling Harry with her by their linked hands and as planned they strolled out through the front doors and down the sloping lawns, the sun shone bright and a light summer breeze whispered through the air. Once they reached the lake edge, they chose to sit in the shade of a familiar beech tree facing the lake.

Happily aware that they were alone, they took the opportunity to finally give each other a proper kiss. With no prying eyes to see them, they kissed with abandon, holding each other close until responsibility intruded and they reluctantly broke apart.

"I guess we should get started, our essays aren't going to do themselves," Ginny said, breathlessly.

"If only they could," Harry answered, "now, _that_ would be a useful spell."

Ginny laughed in agreement as she tied her long hair back into a ponytail, not able to stand it when it got in her eyes while studying and opened her books to begin.

They chatted and teased while they worked, helping each other when needed, falling silent when they needed to concentrate and two surprisingly stress-free hours later, Ginny was finally finished with Snape's assignment. She was tremendously grateful that she had gotten it out of the way and that it wouldn't be hanging over her for the entire weekend. Harry's presence beside her made the whole process seem less daunting and for that she was grateful. He had finished his essay not too long before her and had taken out another text book to read, but seeing that she had finished he put it aside. She entered the welcoming embrace of his arms as she moved to lean back against his chest, threading her fingers through his. She sighed in extreme contentedness and looked towards the horizon.

The sun was setting on the summer day and the colours of the sky and lake looked almost too beautiful to be natural, almost magical. Streaks of blue, pink, purple, orange and yellow painted the sky and were mirrored in the lake. Surrounded by nature and Harry, Ginny contemplated their relationship, he felt undeniably safe in it, safe in her knowledge of his feelings and thoughts, a safety which had been missing with her previous boyfriends and that she now believed was essential to any happy relationship. Time passed as they watched the sun lower slowly down below the horizon, comfortable and content, enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

As the sun eventually disappeared from view leaving only fading light, Ginny pulled Harry's watch up to her eyes and saw that it was nearly curfew. He chuckled and said, "You know, if you wanted to know the time, you could have just asked, there's no need to manhandle me."

She joined his laugh and knew that they should head back to the common room, but with the breathtaking view in front of her, her boyfriends warmth behind her, his strong arms wrapped around her middle, she couldn't bring herself to move. She wanted to stay exactly where she was for as long as she possibly could, the moment was perfect… well, almost.

"You know what would make this perfect?" she spoke, breaking the tranquil silence.

"No, what?" he murmured and she shivered in pleasure as she felt his lips on the shell of her ear.

"Ice cream," she answered and then felt Harry's chest shake as he laughed, "I skipped dessert and now I regret it," she pouted.

"Well, we can't have that can we," he said and he climbed to his feet offering a hand up which she graciously accepted. Their eyes met and their lips followed in a sweet kiss that was almost done unconsciously, though they were overwhelmingly aware of it. Pulling away, he spoke again, "If you wish for ice cream, Gin, then ice cream you shall have," he proclaimed as they started to walk back up to the castle.

"But how are we going to get it? Dinner finished hours ago," she said, confused, she'd mostly been joking about the ice cream, though she did have a craving for some and he seemed perfectly ready to get it for her.

"Don't tell me you've never been to the kitchens?" He seemed incredulous.

"_You've _been to the kitchens?" Ginny asked, also incredulous, she had no idea that any students knew where they were, apart from Fred and George, but they'd alway remained stubbornly mysterious about the location.

"Of course. With Hermione's campaign for house elves a couple of years ago, she tracked down the kitchens because she wanted to see where they worked, dragged me and Ron down there and ended up offending all the elves."

"Will they be okay with you going back there then?" she asked.

Harry nodded, "Hopefully. Dobby works here so at least he'll be happy to see us."

"Dobby?" The name didn't seem familiar to Ginny.

"He's a house elf I know, I forgot you hadn't met him. He used to be the Malfoy's elf but I helped to free him and Dumbledore ended up hiring him. He's really helped me out the last few years, I owe him a lot."

"How did you end up freeing the _Malfoy's _elf?" Ginny asked, incredulously.

Harry thought about his answer for a moment before responding, "It's kind of a long story, I happened in second year," they shared a meaningful look, not needing to say why the year was significant to both of them, "You know that the Diary came from Malfoy Senior and Dobby had been trying to warn me about it all year but because he couldn't betray his Master he couldn't actually tell me. In trying to protect me he actually nearly killed me a few times but he was treated like dirt by the Malfoys, and I only found out that he was their elf when Malfoy came to confront Dumbledore after you had been taken to the Hospital Wing. So when Malfoy was about to leave I asked Dumbledore if I could give the diary back to him, he agreed and I ran after Malfoy and took my sock off, stuffed the diary into it and gave it back to him. Of course, he threw the sock away and Dobby caught it, he'd been given clothes by his master so he was free, I don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy," Harry finished his tale, smiling at the memory of Dobby's excitement.

"That was a wonderful thing you did, Harry," Ginny said, smiling softly, it always astounded her how kind Harry truly was despite the terrible experiences he'd had.

Entering the Entrance Hall, Harry led her to the door where the Hufflpuff's were always seen coming and going from, he expertly guided them through the maze of halls and corridors and they soon came to a stop in front of a painting of a giant fruit bowl. Reaching his arm out he tickled the painted green pear which, to Ginny's surprise and amusement, wriggled and giggled before turning into a large green door knob. They shared a grin before Harry grasped it and pushed the door open revealing a huge room, at least the size of the Great Hall, filled with busy house elves.

Upon entering the large room, Harry was almost knocked over by a flying missile, "Harry Potter has come to see Dobby! Dobby is so pleased, Dobby is so honoured, sir!"

Harry chuckled at the elf's enthusiasm, he noted that he looked much the same as when he last saw him, though he had added Ron's jumper to his apparel, "It's good to see you too, Dobby! How's everything been?"

Dobby's ears wriggled happily as he answered, "Very good Harry Potter, sir, Dobby loves working at Hogwarts even more every day. Who is your friend Harry Potter, sir, Dobby does not know her."

Trying not to laugh at the suspicious glare Dobby shot at Ginny, Harry quickly introduced her, "This is Ginny Weasley, Dobby, Ron's sister, do you remember him?"

"Of course, Harry Potter's Wheezy gave Dobby his jumper. Dobby was most grateful, sir," the elf's large green eyes shone with remembered joy at receiving such a gift from a wizard.

"It's nice to meet you, Dobby," Ginny said, smiling, already liking the energetic elf.

"It is an honour to meet you as well, Miss Wheezy, any friend of the great Harry Potter is welcome here," Dobby bowed, a bright smile on his face.

"Thank you, Dobby, and you can call me Ginny."

Smiling gleefully, Dobby turned back to Harry, "Is there anything Dobby can get you Harry Potter, sir?"

Grinning, Harry answered, "Well, if it's not too much trouble Dobby, we would really love some ice cream."

"Of course, Harry Potter, sir, no trouble at all, Dobby will make sure Harry Potter and Miss Ginny have the best ice cream Hogwarts' elves can offer."

Without further ado he scurried off and a hive of activity began in the kitchen as elves moved every which way until Harry and Ginny were ushered to a table in a whirlwind of house elves. The table piled high with every colour and flavour of ice cream imaginable, the sheer variety was astounding, and it was all for them.

"Wow," Ginny murmured, as she considered the veritable mountain of ice cream in front of them, "we're never going to finish all this!"

Sharing a grin they picked up their spoons and dug in. They had extreme fun trying every flavour on the table, some where good, some were odd but most were amazing and Ginny was in ice cream heaven.

"Harry! You've got to try this one, it tastes exactly like treacle tart!"

"Mmm, yum!" he said after trying a spoon, "This one's definitely my favourite." He refused to let her have another spoon of it and she ended up chasing him round the kitchen trying to get the bowl back, they laughed and laughed until their eyes watered and their sides ached.

But inevitably the fun had to end as they became too full to even look at another scoop of ice cream and they reluctantly rose from the table, thanking the house elves profusely and saying a special goodbye to Dobby, promising to visit again soon. They left the kitchens, Ginny's craving for ice cream thoroughly satisfied, and Harry pulled his invisibility cloak from his bag, aware that it was far past curfew and it wouldn't do to be caught out in the corridors. Luckily, they didn't enchanter anyone on their way back, not even one of the ghosts or Mrs Norris and they soon arrived on the corridor which lead to the Fat Lady's portrait.

They drew off the cloak, feeling that they'd be safe enough from here, and Ginny was about to turn the corner when she felt a tug on her arm and her name being whispered. She turned and all she saw was a mischievous grin and smouldering eyes before his lips were on hers.

They kissed and kissed, their lips moulding together, their bodies pressed against each other, thoughts escaped and reason vanished. He tasted of sweetness and ice cream and in that moment she knew she loved him. She loved this boy who understood her the way no one ever had before, who was noble and good and kind and who kissed her with an intensity which made her heart race and her knees tremble. All too soon they pulled away, their lips clinging to that one last tender kiss before they parted.

Without words they carried on hand in hand, gave the password to Fat Lady who cast them suggestive winks, making Harry blush and chiding them for being out after curfew while unsuccessfully withholding her giggles as she reluctantly opened for them. Ginny was looking forward to spending the time until she went bed curled up in an armchair near the fire, with Harry, maybe reading a book, but upon entering the common room they were ambushed by a mane of bushy hair and her plans were put on hold.

"And just where have you two been?! It's nearly an hour after curfew!"

Harry groaned quietly beside her, his arm warm around her waist, "Busted," he muttered, and she couldn't hold in her giggle as they turned to face Hermione's wrath.

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_Hi all,_

_Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot, just a bit of Harry/Ginny fluff that came to me yesterday. Reviews are much appreciated, let me know what you thought of it, also please let me know if there are any spelling/grammar/punctuation that you notice :)_

_Thanks again for reading,_

_TheOracle18_


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